How do you organize for first year students?

flowerpower · Sep 5, 2005

Good question.. that is exactly how I feel, too. Although, I start this wednesday!! Ahhh...

nursewannabe07 · Sep 5, 2005

I have been wondering the same thing. I have not started yet though. I have orientation on Sat. and start the following Thurs. So far I have purchased a calendar/planner (notebook style) and will write everything in it dealing with school and family. I told them if it isn't in the planner it isn't happening. I think that I really have to wait for orientation to find out what I really need to do 1st. For instance, I don't know when I'll need some of the things I know I'll need (hope that makes sense), so I have to be patient and wait. I hope somebody out there has some good tips to share in the meantime.

Blessings

MIA-RN1, RN · Sep 5, 2005

I will share what I did to get thru that first semester (and the second one too lol)

Ok, you want to make yourself a weekly schedule. List each day of the week, divided in hour increments. Make one for each week of the semester.

First, block off all the time you are in school for the week.(I colored mine with orange highlighter) Next, block off all the time you are at work. (I used yellow this time) Get out your calender and block off all your doc or dentist appts, things you have to do with kids, sports events etc. Next, find a couple times that will be approximately the same each week, and devote those to studying. Lastly, block off time for fun. It is as important as study time. Now, writein your weekly things--shopping, laundry, ironing whatever. Give yourself reasonable time to do what needs to be done. You will find that you actually have time to do everything and with time to spare. I gave myself every single friday off from studying every week. Once I saw how I could plan my weekends and evenings, I could do this guilt-free. Yes, you will have to 'tweak' now and then, but the main thing is you have a plan and guideline. Try not to tweak unless you have to but no one knows better than I that kids get sick, cars break down, work changes your hours etc.

I made one of these for each week for first semester. I put everything on it and it was like the ultimate organizer.

Next thing to do is to organize your outline/syllabus. I don't know how your school sets it up, but let me tell you how its done here and maybe it will help give you ideas.

They give us a GIANT course outline. It has all the units, worksheets, information etc. First semester was the worst because it was huge. That whole big thing went into a 3" binder.

Next, I got two 1 1/2" binders.

One was for clinical only and all I had in it were the units, assignments etc for clnical. This went to clinical with me every week.

The other binder (lecture binder) held only a few units at a time. I put in the units for whatever test was upcoming. So units one two and three if the test would cover them. This came to school with me.

Then, after the test, those first three units went back into the 3" binder, and the next test's units went into the notebook. Kind of like a revolving door. I kept the weekly schedule at the front of each weekly unit. So it was all together.

The big notebook stayed at home. At the end of the semester, all my notes were together and organized and easier to study from. Plus, it breaks it down into manageable bits and is way less overwhelmeing because then you are only dealing with what is most current.

Finally, and this is something that was INVALUABLE to me, I made a running vocab list in Excel. I started with each unit's vocab, typing it was how I studied. I printed it off and had a nice list to study from. As we went along, I would print out the vocab list for each unit, and then combine each one into one Master list that I saved in the computer. End of the semester, I printed up my 10 page vocabulary list, all alphabetical and lovely. I gave copies to several people as well.

I also type up my unit notes in outline form. This helps me study as well. Then I had all the organized typed notes to study for my final.

I hope this helps some. I love to type and hate to write so that's why I did so much typing lol.

Other things are more common sense--go to bed at the same time each night, get up at the same time each morning, more protein for energy, lots of water. :)

flowerpower · Sep 5, 2005

Wow.. thank you so much for all that information. That was really helpful! :)

Cowboys_RN, BSN · Sep 5, 2005

I was in the same position before I started NS. I wanted to have everything ready and be prepared. I ended up buying stuff I never used because it didn't work for me. I would just buy the basics and then see what you need and what will work for you after the first week.

Dan's Sunshine · Sep 5, 2005

Coopergrrl ~ Great tips!!! Love the vocab list. I think I will do that.

I would love to hear more from others.

Brandy

SCmomof3, RN · Sep 6, 2005

Great tips Coopergrrl!

SarasotaRN2b · Sep 6, 2005

Great suggestions, thank you!

I will share what I did to get thru that first semester (and the second one too lol)
Ok, you want to make yourself a weekly schedule. List each day of the week, divided in hour increments. Make one for each week of the semester.
First, block off all the time you are in school for the week.(I colored mine with orange highlighter) Next, block off all the time you are at work. (I used yellow this time) Get out your calender and block off all your doc or dentist appts, things you have to do with kids, sports events etc. Next, find a couple times that will be approximately the same each week, and devote those to studying. Lastly, block off time for fun. It is as important as study time. Now, writein your weekly things--shopping, laundry, ironing whatever. Give yourself reasonable time to do what needs to be done. You will find that you actually have time to do everything and with time to spare. I gave myself every single friday off from studying every week. Once I saw how I could plan my weekends and evenings, I could do this guilt-free. Yes, you will have to 'tweak' now and then, but the main thing is you have a plan and guideline. Try not to tweak unless you have to but no one knows better than I that kids get sick, cars break down, work changes your hours etc.
I made one of these for each week for first semester. I put everything on it and it was like the ultimate organizer.
Next thing to do is to organize your outline/syllabus. I don't know how your school sets it up, but let me tell you how its done here and maybe it will help give you ideas.
They give us a GIANT course outline. It has all the units, worksheets, information etc. First semester was the worst because it was huge. That whole big thing went into a 3" binder.
Next, I got two 1 1/2" binders.
One was for clinical only and all I had in it were the units, assignments etc for clnical. This went to clinical with me every week.
The other binder (lecture binder) held only a few units at a time. I put in the units for whatever test was upcoming. So units one two and three if the test would cover them. This came to school with me.
Then, after the test, those first three units went back into the 3" binder, and the next test's units went into the notebook. Kind of like a revolving door. I kept the weekly schedule at the front of each weekly unit. So it was all together.
The big notebook stayed at home. At the end of the semester, all my notes were together and organized and easier to study from. Plus, it breaks it down into manageable bits and is way less overwhelmeing because then you are only dealing with what is most current.
Finally, and this is something that was INVALUABLE to me, I made a running vocab list in Excel. I started with each unit's vocab, typing it was how I studied. I printed it off and had a nice list to study from. As we went along, I would print out the vocab list for each unit, and then combine each one into one Master list that I saved in the computer. End of the semester, I printed up my 10 page vocabulary list, all alphabetical and lovely. I gave copies to several people as well.
I also type up my unit notes in outline form. This helps me study as well. Then I had all the organized typed notes to study for my final.
I hope this helps some. I love to type and hate to write so that's why I did so much typing lol.
Other things are more common sense--go to bed at the same time each night, get up at the same time each morning, more protein for energy, lots of water. :)

dream2life07 · Sep 6, 2005

Those are all great tips and thank you. I also have a nursing student planner I bought from our school's bookstore. It has a weekly, monthly, and yearly calendar in the back of the book along with all other tips and info. My only problem is staying committed to the planner. I am organized in some ways but in other I feel better just doing things day by day as situations come along. And see, that's my problem. I want to be able to stick to my planner and write down my schedule and stick to that, but I feel like its not going to help me if I don't follow it. Are there any other suggestions?

kahumai, RN · Sep 7, 2005

To organize for your classes, get a 3-ring binder (1.5" - 2" seem to be the most common by me) and a 3-ring hole puncher. I cannot stress the hole puncher enough. We get sooooo many handouts that it would be impossible to keep them in a separate folder, so I just put them into the binder next to whatever notes we got in class that day. Don't use any sprial notebooks, but use looseleaf instead. It makes for an easier way to take notes, in my opinion. I also could not live without little Post-It tabs that I would use to color code chapters that would be on the test (only study the pink chapters, etc.).

Aside from that, I can't say enough about the importance of consistent organization. I'm sure you are all aware at this point that there is alot of material to cover in a short amount of time, but a good plan and a good planner will take you far. Oh, and don't procrastinate on writing papers...I've learned from experience! :banghead: